Philippine Studies

Sinulog, Cebu’s biggest and most popular festival, is celebrated every third Sunday of January. It is to honor the Catholic Church’s Santo Niño de Cebu. This festival is characterized by a very long parade with many groups of persons dressed in colorful costumes while dancing Sinulog through the streets.

The following are 10 remarkable facts about Sinulog:

1. Sinulog comes from the Cebuano word “sulog,” a term which describes the back-and-forth movement of water currents.

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The province of Laguna is located southeast of Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Laguna was named after the Spanish word “laguna” which literally means lagoon or lake. The province’s previous complete name given by the Spaniards was “La Provincia de la Laguna de Bay.”

The following are 20 Interesting facts about Laguna:

1. Laguna was founded in July 28, 1571. It is now more than 400 years old (435 years old) as a province.

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Melchora Aquino y de Ramos (January 6, 1812 – March 2, 1919) was raised by prosperous farmer parents, Juan Aquino and Valentina de Aquino, at Banlat, Balintawak, Quezon City. She was well known as a great Filipino Revolutionist against the Spanish colonizers. She earned the name “Tandang Sora” for being an elderly mother to the Katipueros, that despite her old age, she still managed to fight for independence.

1. According to history, she never attended school because of financial inability. What’s amazing though is that despite her being unschooled, she was noticeably literate and highly intelligent, which was observed even during her very young age. (pinoyforum.com)

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Philippine folklore refers to the traditional stories and explanations passed down the country. It includes a list of weirdmythicalcreatures that have stood the test of time. Just mention the terms kapre, aswang, engkanto, tiyanak, and tikbalang and you will get most Filipinos, especially the kids, turning into frightened brats.

The following are some unpopular mythical creatures that have made our mythology even more interesting and—of course—horrific.

1. BAL BAL is scavenger-monster with a thirsty appetite for dead human bodies. “Also known as maninilong among the natives of Catanauan, Quezon, this vampire-like creature prefers to prey on corpses. With a long, razor-sharp claws and a sense of smell that may be 10 times more sensitive than dogs’, Bal Bals easily find its next meal on cemeteries and even funerals.” (filipiknow.net)

Jose Rizal established La Liga Filipina, a civic association, in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco at Ilaya Street, Tondo, Manila on July 3, 1892. Though it was Jose Ma. Basa who conceived the establishment of ‘La Liga Filipina’ (The Philippine League), his friend and namesake Jose Rizal was the one who wrote its constitution in Hong Kong and actually founded it upon his return in the Philippines in 1892.

Considered an indirect upshot and subsidiary of the Propaganda, the La Liga aimed to directly involve the patriotic Filipinos, especially those based in the country, in the reform movement. Intending to uplift the life of the Filipinos, the society would promote mutual aids through projects like establishing cooperatives to provide supports like legal assistance, scholarship grants, and economic loans. The La Liga aspired, among others, to 1) unite the whole archipelago into one strong and united organization; 2) have mutual protection in every need and want; 3) serve as a defense against all violence and injustices; 4) encourage education, agriculture, and commerce; and 5) study the application of reforms.

The following is the English translation of the full text of Rizal's brindis or toast speech delivered at a banquet in the Restaurant Inglés, Madrid, on the evening of June 25, 1884 in honor of Juan Luna, winner of the gold medal for his painting, “El Spoliarium,” and Felix Resurrección Hidalgo, winner of a silver medal, for his painting “Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho” at a Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes de Madrid.

This was taken from Gems of Philippine oratory; selections representing fourteen centuries of Philippine thought, carefully compiled from credible sources in substitution for the pre-Spanish writings destroyed by missionary zeal, to supplement the later literature stunted by intolerant religious and political censorship, and as specimens of the untrammeled present-day utterances, by Austin Craig, page 34-37, University of Manila, 1924.

In rising to speak I have no fear that you will listen to me with superciliousness, for you have come here to add to ours your enthusiasm, the stimulus of youth, and you cannot but be indulgent. Sympathetic currents pervade the air, bonds of fellowship radiate in all directions, generous souls listen, and so I do not fear for my humble personality, nor do I doubt your kindness. Sincere men yourselves, you seek only sincerity, and from that height, where noble sentiments prevail, you give no heed to sordid trifles. You survey the whole field, you weigh the cause and extend your hand to whomsoever like myself, desires to unite with you in a single thought, in a sole aspiration: the glorification of genius, the grandeur of the fatherland!

Memoirs of a Student in Manila by P. Jacinto (a Pen Name of José Rizal)

This is the student memoirs or reminiscences of José Rizal. He wrote it from 1879 to 1881, from the age of 17 to 20. The English translation is by the José Rizal National Centennial Commission. It is taken from the book José Rizal: Life, Works, and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist, and National Hero by Gregorio F. Zaide and Sonia M Zaide (Metro-Manila: National Book Store Publishers).

Chapter 1: My Birth – Early Years

I was born in Calamba on 19 June 1861, between eleven and midnight, a few days before full moon. It was a Wednesday and my coming out in this vale of tears would have cost my mother her life had she not vowed to the Virgin of Antipolo to take me to her sanctuary by way of pilgrimage. (02) All I remember of my early days is I don’t know how I found myself in a town with some scanty notions of the morning sun, of my parents, etc. The education that I received since my earliest infancy was perhaps what has shaped my habits, like a jar that retains the odor of the body that it first held.